It’s cricket season again.
Sure, COVID-19 has shaken things up a bit, and it will be a cricket season like none before it, just as it has been with so much else in 2020. But nonetheless, cricket is back, and it’s great to be able to tune in to the Sheffield Shield streams on the Cricket Australia website to catch some much-missed cricket.
Watching the players running around, it’s hard not to think that those big numbers on their backs really do look a bit ugly and just don’t seem right. The nice clean white or cream shirts with a simple logo and sponsor on the front just look better. It’s not like people are going to go out and buy a Shield state shirt with players numbers on them or something. It can’t really be a merchandising thing, can it?
So what is the purpose?
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
A bit of a look into it suggests that the reasoning behind having the numbers on the backs of the shirts is to help fans identify players they may not know that well in the Shield. Let’s face it, despite it being introduced into Test cricket, it’s not needed so much there. We get to know the players’ size, shape and mannerisms to the point where it’s easy to spot who is who most of the time, even from a distance.
But in Shield cricket there are a lot of players who we might not know so well, so having the numbers can be helpful. You can look up team lists with the numbers and find who player No. 45 is…
Well, I guess that’s the idea anyway. It kind of breaks down when you actually try to do it. An extensive attempt to search for Sheffield Shield players finds that there doesn’t seem to be a single place online that lists players for each of the teams that includes the player numbers. Not one.
Cricket Australia website player profiles? Not there. Individual state cricket sites squad pages? No, not there. On the scorecards for the live games happening? No, not there either.
Try searching for Sheffield Shield players numbers and you only get links to these sites and a few stories about how the numbers are on the shirts to help with identification. The closest I could find was a Wikipedia page about the New South Wales cricket team which listed last year’s squad and did have numbers again most of the players.
Though that’s not an official page, plus it’s out of date – it’s last season’s squad and doesn’t include two of the players in the team playing currently.
Again I ask the question: what is the purpose of these numbers? It clearly can’t be for identification, because the only thing they could be used to identify is ‘what an awesome run out by No. 36’ and ‘that was a great catch by No. 7 off the bowling of No. 25’.
Cricket Australia, you’ve dropped the ball on this one. Either drop the numbers from the backs of the shirts or include those numbers on your score sheets and player lists so that they can actually be used for identification as you claim they exist for.
Without a key to the numbers, the numbers are completely useless.
ron gumley
Guest
Numbers or names on the back are great, not all of us watch enough cricket to ID every player by his shape. Will renew interest in cricket. The argument against is baseless and poor. Congrats to the body responsible. Should be adopted by AFL as well.
Spanner
Roar Rookie
You've nailed it Micko - some suit in marketing (probably a consultant) got paid for coming up with something, anything. Its an insult to cricket lovers - if a player catches your eye on the field, you'll find out who he is.
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
That's a nice statement there Spruce. Must say well said. Although Chris asked the question. You have answered. So its win-win for all involved.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Great article Chris. Just overpaid parasites on the gravy train who need to be seen to be doing something...anything! You literally pointed out how stupid these people are with a system of player shirt numbers that can't be traced back to a player by the general public they claimed it was for in the first place. What a farce! :laughing:
Jeff
Roar Rookie
The WACA would hand out team sheets with numbers when you entered the ground for Shield matches, not sure what the other associations do. But it wouldn't be hard for CA to have them on its' website, especially since they have started streaming matches in recent seasons.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
I'm not going to give my blogging secrets away!
Nick
Roar Guru
Chris, The only people who watch the shield are the hard core fans. The average punter doesn't watch it. You know it, I know it, CA knows it too. They aren't trying to reach out to the average punter either. You know it. I know it. CA knows it. For the hard core fan, the numbers do help with the identification. We already know who is batting. We already know who is bowling. And thanks to the commentary we know who is chasing after the ball. It doesn't take too long for the keen eyed fan to link the player to the number. So in that respect, they serve their point perfectly. CA are not trying to get more people to watch the shield.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
But how do you know which player is which number to allow you to use the numbers other than watching carefully, waiting for a player you recognise to turn around and then writing down what their number is yourself?
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Exactly, that's basically my point. Not to get rid of the numbers, but if you put them there to help identify players, then you need to have some way of "decoding" the numbers to know who they are. Without that it's completely useless. To be honest, I'd have just written as much in comments somewhere, but I couldn't find any articles relating to Sheffield Shield to comment on, so I went with a whole article.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Spruce, I actually have no problem with them having the numbers. What I have a problem with is them saying they put the numbers on to help with identification of players, but then not have anywhere that you can look up to find what player has what number, meaning that they are actually useless for the very point they were supposedly brought in for.
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
Was it a complaint though Rellum?? Looked more like a question being posed. Surely we are allowed to raise queries about why things are being done a certain way without being declared a whinger?
Nick
Roar Guru
Yes, but if they didn't have the numbers and others did, I'll bet CA will cop criticism for not having them. People like an attack at the governing body for no apparent reason. Chris is entitled to write about it, but we are entitled to pass judgement. Not his best article and he generally writes something that is a pretty good read.
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Agreed it’s not a big issue Spruce. But the point remains CA are responsible for bringing in a change that doesn’t add anything. Change for the sake of change, or looking like you’re doing something isn’t exactly the mark of excellence. Anyway, its certainly not significant enough to have an argy-bargy over. I did enjoy reading about the official ‘justification’ for the numbers and how that doesn’t stack up, so I just want to defend Chris’ right to write this piece. :happy:
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Names accompany the numbers. (And nobody complains anyway)
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Copied from English County Cricket- maybe they do it more sensibly over there?
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
I guess it doesn't bother me too much if there are numbers on the shirts or not. Even at Test match level (and I'm generally a traditionalist). But I cannot see the reason for it. It won't keep me up at night, but its strange that CA went down this path. And your argument is "well they do it in soccer". But I do concur on the "just blame the governing body" angle that we all fall into far too easily. I don't agree with their rationale, but fair enough if they made the call.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
As a live cricket blogger for this site, I can vouch for the helpfulness of numbers on the backs of players shirts. Names underneath the numbers are even more helpful but still when a player is fielding with their back to the camera, any form of identification is useful.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Who gives a flying bleep if they have numbers. Of all the minor issues to complain about this has to be the most inane.
Nick
Roar Guru
I'm not defending CA. I just find it childish when people just automatically seek to blame them for incredibly minor things...or really lump the blame on them to avoid criticism of players. The players take some responsibility here. They and the union clearly have no issue with numbers on the back. If they did, they'd have fought back. They always do. It's a non-issue.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Numbers on the back makes perfect sense IF there is somewhere you can look up the numbers to identify players. For spectators on the ground, player numbers should be listed on the scoreboard. For streaming viewers, perhaps player numbers can be listed on the match scoreboard / summary. Whilst hardcore fans can certainly identify players without the need for numbers, I think we still need to make the games as accessible as possible for more casual fans (who can't pick up whether it's Travis Head or Matt Wade chasing the ball from looking at their backs). Agree names are a good idea too, but if you are at the ground you may not be able to read the names from 100m away (likewise if a player is not zoomed in on the TV), so numbers are still a good idea. But like Chris says, make it easy to look up the numbers!